Dotto, Bruno/Browne, Jeff (Hrsg.) Decision in Lombardy

The Battle of Solferino, 24 June 1859

Volume 62 of the series "From Musket to Maxim 18151914." Just before dawn on June 24, 1859, near the small northern Italian town of Solferino, the largest battle fought on the European continent since the Napoleonic Wars unfolded. This decisive engagement of the Second Italian War of Independence raged throughout the day and into the evening along an 18-kilometer front line. Often underestimated in its significance, the battle involved nearly 300,000 men of all armscommanded, for the last time in history, by three reigning monarchs. Today, the Battle of Solferino-San Martino is widely regarded as the birth of the Red Cross; yet the events of that day encompassed far more. This work, translated from the original Italian, has been enriched with newly created and previously unpublished maps and illustrations. It offers valuable insights for historians, military enthusiasts, and wargamers alikegroups that will all appreciate the depth and precision of its depiction of the combat operations between Austrian, French, and Piedmontese forces. This clear and meticulously researched analysis sheds new light on events and personalities that have hitherto remained in the shadows of history. It examines in detail the extensive reconnaissance operations that prompted Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria to resume the offensive against the allied armies of France and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The deadly sequence of encounter battles that unfolded between the three warring armies spanned three main sectors: the San Martino plateau in the north, the hilly terrain surrounding Solferino in the center, and the plains of Medole and Guidizzolo in the south. These engagements were fought largely independently, with only limited coordination between the individual troop units. The fighting erupted with great ferocityinitially at Medole, and subsequently along the ridge extending from Grole through Solferino to Cavriana and onward toward Volta Mantovana. Each of these engagements is meticulously analyzed, described, and interpreted; in doing so, the narrative draws upon a comparative evaluation of reports submitted by subordinate commanders, which have been preserved in state and military archives. Particular attention is devoted to the Austrian "Alte Feldakten" (Old Field Records), housed within the extensive archival collections in Vienna. Finally, this work offers a long-overdue reconstruction of the role played by the Venetian soldiers serving in the Imperial Regiment "Wernhardt"men recruited from the provinces of Treviso and Venice whose contribution has, until now, been largely overlooked by historians.